City Council Grab Bag: Treats in the Streets, Ice Rink, Road Work, City Budget, Wastewater Line Replacement Cost
It's been a month or so since I last posted, and there are quite a few topics or bits of info to get out.
- Treats in the Streets 2023: We're looking for someone to put together and head up a committee for our 2nd annual Treats in the Streets. After the great success of the event last year, we'd like to try it again. If you and some others are willing to make it happen, please stop by city hall and volunteer.
- Ice Rink in Neibaur/Veterans Park: We have a business that is planning to open an ice rink on the old tennis courts during the winter months. The plan is to have two rinks, a larger 55x105' and a smaller 20x40', along with a warming/skate rental tent and a tent for the Zamboni. The city approved the special use permit for the business, and we hope it goes well with this first winter.
- Road Maintenance: The city public works director, Arlynn Jacobson, and his crew have been patching some of the roads throughout town. There are also some streets that are getting additional work done on them this summer season. We appreciate their work on our roads. It's not easy to keep the roads in good shape in Idaho, and they do a good job.
- City Budget: The mayor and city council had a budget work meeting on July 26th. The tentative budget will be on the agenda this week and the final budget to be voted on at the August 24th meeting. The city is in good financial shape. The mayor and city employees and city council all take seriously their responsibility to residents in this regard.
- Wastewater Lines: Speaking of money, Rexburg is moving ahead with their upgrades to their wastewater lines and facilities. The upgrades and replacements are much needed. Sugar City (and the city of Teton) sends its wastewater to Rexburg for processing. The lines from our city to Moody Rd and from Moody Rd to Rexburg are 40+ years old. They are concrete and have long outlasted their usability. They are bad shape. Sugar City's portion of the replacement costs will be significant. We are pursuing various methods for paying for this project, including grants and low-interest loans. The council lowered the base rate for water a couple of years ago and raised the base rate for wastewater to begin collecting funds to pay for this project. The city had not been taking in enough money to pay for such maintenance and replacement of major infrastructure projects. It doesn't get cheaper to replace lines and upgrade facilities when the time comes in the future. The idea is to have rates that are just high enough to pay for such projects in the future without having to get loans or bonds. Of course, no one likes to pay higher costs for utilities. So the balance is tricky--rates that are high enough, but no higher. In any case, I'll post more about the process and the options the city considers and decides to pursue. We should have more info presented in this week's city council meeting.